Second Oil Platform Explodes in Gulf of Mexico

LE

A blast has ripped through an oil platfrom in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site where BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April.

The blast occurred at an oil and gas facility 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.

There were 13 workers on board but it is thought all of them managed to don lifesaving gear and jump into the sea.

The White House has said just one of the crew has been injured and is being evacuated from the area.

So far, no oil has been spotted in the water but the platform is on fire.

US correspondent Greg Milam said: "You can imagine the shudder that a headline like that causes across America.

"The issue is whether there is potential of any pollution, any leak. What we are hearing from Mariner Energy... is it's a producing platform it's not a rig.

"Therefore from what we understand at the moment it wouldn't be drilling for oil, although the company has many hundreds of platforms in that region that do drill for oil.

"It could be that as a producing platform it might be storing some oil that has been brought up to the surface, but generally those platforms are used as staging points for other parts of the operation."

The fact that the platform is on fire is an encouraging sign because if any oil is burning it means it suggests it is not leaking.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion leaked millions of gallons of oil after it exploded on April 20 because the rig collapsed and fractured the pipe at the sea bed.